Tuesday, 18 December 2012

Air Canada today unveiled its new leisure airline Rouge, marking a milestone in the transformation of Canada's flag carrier to compete in the growing leisure travel sector commencing operations in July 2013 serving destinations in the Caribbean and Europe in association with Air Canada Vacations, using an initial fleet of two Airbus A319s and two Boeing 767-300ER's.

Air Canada rouge flights to all destinations to be served in the carrier's inaugural 2013 summer schedule will depart Air Canada's main hub at Toronto's Pearson International Airport offering customers seamless connections with Air Canada, Air Canada Express and its Star Alliance partner flights.

Air Canada rouge will introduce new routes not currently operated by Air Canada to Venice, Italy and Edinburgh, Scotland. In addition, Air Canada seasonal services from Toronto and Montreal to Athens, Greece will be flown by the leisure carrier. Similarly, existing Air Canada flights operated in cooperation with Air Canada Vacations to Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Costa Rica will be operated by Air Canada rouge effective July 2013.

Air Canada Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer Ben Smith said "With the introduction today of Air Canada rouge, Air Canada enters today's growing leisure travel market on a truly competitive basis. In partnership with Air Canada Vacations, part of our new leisure group, Air Canada rouge will leverage the strengths of Air Canada's extensive network, operational expertise and frequent flyer reward program in order to offer Canadians great value for their vacation travel."